Christians celebrate Easter across conflict-torn Mideast

Amel EmricAP

Amel EmricAP

Maya AlleruzzoAP

Sebastian ScheinerAP

Sebastian ScheinerAP

Dan BaliltyAP

Tsafrir AbayovAP

Christian pilgrims light candles during the Easter Sunday procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem, Sunday, April 16, 2017. Millions of Christians around the world are celebrating Easter commemorating the day when according to Christian tradition Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem.
Sebastian ScheinerAP

Iraqi Christians celebrate Easter mass in Qaraqoshl, Iraq, Sunday, April 16, 2017.. The town has been gutted by Islamic State militants. Now under government control, residents have not returned.
Maya AlleruzzoAP

Pope Francis addresses the crowd prior to delivering his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) message from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, April 16, 2017. On Christianity’s most joyful day, Pope Francis lamented the horrors generated by war and hatred, delivering an Easter Sunday message that also decried the “latest vile” attack on civilians in Syria.
L'Osservatore RomanoAP

Girls react during the Orthodox Easter service at the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana just next to the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, April 16, 2017.
Alexander ZemlianichenkoAP

Christians celebrated Easter on Sunday across the Middle East, where many are struggling to maintain their embattled communities in the face of war, religious violence and discrimination.

Thousands of worshippers flocked to Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and resurrected.

This year the holiday was celebrated on the same day by both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox worshippers. The denominations, which jealously guard different sections of the church, held separate services one after another.

The church is located in Jerusalem's Old City. Worshippers lined up to admire the edicule, the chamber that tradition says marks Jesus' tomb. A Greek restoration team recently completed a historic renovation of the spot.

The limestone and marble structure stands at the center of the church — a 12th-century building standing on 4th-century remains. The shrine needed urgent attention after years of exposure to water, humidity and candle smoke.

A service was also held in West Bank city of Bethlehem, in the Church of Nativity, the place where Christian tradition says Jesus was born.

Egypt's Coptic Christians meanwhile marked a somber Easter a week after twin bombings by the Islamic State group killed dozens of worshippers at churches in two separate cities.

Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II presided over Easter Mass late Saturday at St. Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, with several government ministers in attendance.

Tawadros had earlier announced during his Good Friday sermon that, as mourning for the attack victims was ongoing, the celebratory aspects of Easter would be canceled this year, including the Easter morning reception.

Last Sunday, a suicide bomber was able to make his way to the front rows of a church in the Nile Delta City of Tanta before blowing himself up. In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, another attacker detonated his suicide vest at the church gate's metal detector after being stopped by guards.

The Islamic State group claimed the bombings.

Many of Iraq's Christians observed the holiday in camps for the displaced after fleeing IS and the ongoing operation to drive the militants from Mosul, the country's second largest city. A number of Christian villages around Mosul have been retaken from the extremists since U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched the operation in October, but few residents have returned.

Pakistan's tiny Christian minority celebrated Easter amid high security after last year's celebrations were marred by a suicide bombing that killed more than 70 people.

The bomber had struck in a public park in Lahore that was packed with Christians as well as Muslims. The attack was claimed by a breakaway Taliban faction.

Pakistani security forces said Saturday that they had foiled a "major terror attack" against Christians when they killed a militant and detained another in Lahore hours after Christians marked Good Friday.

Zubaida Amanat, who lost her 21-year-old son in last year's bombing, said the violence had transformed what should have been a joyous holiday into an annual reminder of her grief.

"I just want this terrorism to end," she said. "All I can hope is that no other mothers go through the pain I did."